Operational Planning and You...

[scottyfox]

I generally hate doing work stuff after work but hockey isn't on yet and I'm bored. I realize there aren't many J5s or staff officers here, but apologies if this is already old hat. Most of the stuff in here is from the Land Staff TAM and DAD and anything I'm about to say is fine for public release.

Disclamer: There is a risk in over-planning in airsoft and since no plan survives first contact etc etc, I'm not talking about busting out little unit markers and moving them around. But... if you're going to fight, you might as well fight smart and hopefully people will be able to gleen some lessons from CF OP planning. Some of this stuff will definitely be intuitive, but the idea is to go through the process and learn as much as possible about the OP environment.


FLOCARK
You need a) a good map of the terrain with accurate info b) pers that know the terrain. This is usaully easy as some will have played the field or might have even done a recce (well done Renegade for OP Deadfall).

FLOCARK is a graphical method used to analyse the terrain as it relates
to mil ops. The seven step method is described by the mnemonic FLOCARK
(Features, Lanes, Objs, Canalizing grd, Approaches, Rate, and Key terrain).

Real steel folk would put this on a map with clear overlays or on powerpoint but for airsoft, they are useful as key points to keep in mind.

Features
Most obvious by look at a map, are there rivers? lakes? swamps? clearings that are easy to traverse but vulnerable? Elevation? Unstable rocky cliffs etc.

Lanes
These are your areas of passable terrain, in fields like FTF, they could be vast, but still good to keep in mind (if only to know impassable terrain)

Objectives
Not just if you know the location of an enemy (which obviously would be an obj) but perhaps a group of buildings (Russian Base at the LZ and so on) or a potential FOB.

Canalizing Ground
Think "canal" ie bottlenecks. If there is a single path (or golden road) leading onto an island in the middle of a swamp, that is one. The same could be said of paths in dense bush. These are areas that a team may want to avoid, but if this is not possible, might want to remain alert.

Avenues of Approach
List the possible routes to obj, keeping in mind previous observations (Could also Red Team to decide on likely OPFOR avenues of approach, see enemy CoA below)

Rating of Approaches
Could break this down into Most/Least likely and Most/Least dangerous routes to obj. Could also Red Team this.

Key Terrain
Listing out the ground that is a) Important to you/enemy or b) Dangerous to you/enemy (Vital Ground and Killing Ground).


Put the graph here (Courtesy of Directorate of Army Doctrine), FEBE is Forward Edge Battle Area.


Now that's just a tiny (mostly geographical) part of the CF OPP Orientation phase that could/should be useful to the airsoft commander and his team (note: the information is useless if only the CO knows it...)

Other aspects of Orientation includes the Joint Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace, which for our intents and purposes, focuses on the adversary. For airsoft, it could be confusing, will your adversary behave like an insurgent (ie play his/her role in the milsim) or not. At the risk of overthinking, suffice it to say, that it may be important to have an idea of the enemy's CO, team dynamic, capabilities and so on. This could lead to developing possible enemy Courses of Action (ie what are they most likely to do?)
With FLOCARK done, it is generally possible to have a pretty good idea of where an adversary's base will be and how he/she will behave.

A fun part of Orientation is an environmental scan. Are there civvies? Are they supportive/ hostile? What are your RoE/ targeting procedures?
I'm probably forgetting a whole bunch of what I wanted to note, and keep in mind there is a whole bunch of stuff (weeks and weeks in fact) that I didn't mention since it's not relevant to AS.

But the idea is, the commander and his/her team will be better suited to fight effectively on the field, knowing their environment and adversary to fight smarter.

Thanks for your patience, but hell, this is TTPs, of course there would be lots of reading.


Scott

[Oborous]

Great!

Any more tidbid? Ideas?

Oborous

[scottyfox]

A thirst for knowledge, excellent!

Not sure if you got my PM but here is a little follow-on for general consumption:

They teach FLOCARK at the Army Operations Course in Kingston and I'm afraid I don't have any of the course materials online.
There is also an Army specific process called Battle Procedure, I'll list the steps and folks can probably get a good idea of what they entail. Otherwise, do PLQ or the AOC and you'll learn all you want.

There is also the Army's Tactical Aide Memoire which is where all this fun stuff is but the TAM is not really for public consumption.

This is Battle Procedure:
Receive Warning Order
Conduct a Quick Map Study and Time Estimate
Receipt of Orders
Conduct Mission Analysis
Issue Initial Warning Order
Make a Detailed Time Estimate
Conduct a Map Study and Prepare an Outline Plan
Prepare a Reconnaissance Plan
Conduct Reconnaissance
Do Remainder of Estimate
Issue a Supplementary Warning Order
Prepare and Issue Orders
Coordinate Activities and Requirements of Subordinates
Supervise Deployment
Execute the Mission


The Operational Planning Process (CF OPP) is available online and it's the massive tome of doctrine relating to how a Joint Planning Group (a whole bunch of Majors assigned J2, J3, J4 etc roles) plans at the operational level, but some of the stuff (ie orientation, course of action development etc) can be applied to the tactical level as well. The OPP is here:
http://www.cfd-cdf.forces.gc.ca/site....asp?page=3568


Hope this helps, major lesson here though, this stuff alone does not win. Fighting smarter is an enabler, a tool that can help you gain advantage over your adversary. It can also complicate your life and confuse your team, so be cautious.

Scott

[deep in the bush]

Good job Scott,

Always nice to get more info for players.

[Crunchmeister]

Originally Posted by scottyfox

They teach FLOCARK at the Army Operations Course in Kingston and I'm afraid I don't have any of the course materials online.

Hmmm... I have access to this material as I work in the office that administers the online portion of the AOC. I'll see if I can find something. Assuming, of course, that the material is acceptable for posting on a public site. I'll have to look into that as well before I can share.

[Oborous]

Originally Posted by Crunchmeister

Hmmm... I have access to this material as I work in the office that administers the online portion of the AOC. I'll see if I can find something. Assuming, of course, that the material is acceptable for posting on a public site. I'll have to look into that as well before I can share.

Any luck with that material? Even if it's not postable for general distribution, is it something you could PM me?

Oborous